# BookCrossing’s early travelling books

> Labelled books recruited their next readers into an online tracking community.

- Owner: BookCrossing / Ron Hornbaker
- Kind: Activity
- Sector: Culture (no sector)
- Seed date: 2001-04-17
- Milestone date: 2003-08-15
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 10 (Niche, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Response chain, Press loop, Visible in use

## Summary

BookCrossing connected physical book sharing with online journals. Each labelled book could recruit its next reader, while recorded discoveries notified earlier participants. Press coverage helped a small early community expand internationally during 2002 and 2003.

## Timeline

- 2001-04-17 — BookCrossing (Open web) — Launched a site for registering, releasing and tracking books passed between readers.
- Mar 2002 — Book magazine (Press) — Published an article the founders identify as an early turning point in recruitment.
- 2002-03-19 — WIRED (Press) — Explained the labelled-book invitation and reported more than 5,000 registered books.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/bookcrossing-launch

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “BookCrossing’s early travelling books.” Case HIS-01071. Spread Score v1.2: 10/100. Updated 2026-10-17. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01071